Beyond the Forest

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I know I said at the start of the story that by the time you finished it I would have died, and I did. I just didn't stay dead. I'm not sure if it was because we'd broken the witch's curse that had killed me or because the dark man only had room for one more and, honestly, I didn't care. There was only one thing I wanted.

I was back home by the next day and my wife, finally awake from her coma, cried tears of joy when she saw me.

"My mom told me where you went, said you swore you were going to find a way to wake me up. The doctors still can't figure out what happened. They say it's a miracle."

I nodded my agreement as I held her hand and stroked her face. "Do you remember anything?"

"I remember thinking I saw you...like you were a ghost...and there was this beautiful girl with you. She held me..."

I smiled and whispered in her ear, "You're not going to believe the story I've got to tell you."

We returned to Transylvania the next summer, and now every year we return to lend our support to Andrei and Adriana's efforts to preserve the ancient forests that were a lost, lonely girl's home for so many centuries.

She's gone now, but I know her spirit lives on. Not only in the hopes of young women who go to the forest to seek Matusa Ildiko's aid to send their wayward lovers back to them, or in the tales of a beautiful specter who guides travelers lost in the woods to safety, but forever in my heart.

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Thanks for taking the time to read my story. As mentioned it is an entry for the Halloween contest so, if you enjoyed it, please don't forget to vote! ~ Seanathon.